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Laptop

daedong

New member
I am a computer illiterate.

I still use a computer that is 5 years old and have never really understood the technical jargon when it comes to computers.

I need help.

When I come to the US I feel I need to have a laptop. On a visit to the Walmart website, it appears that laptops are cheaper in the US than Australia, but I don't have any idea what I need. I predominantly want it for internet access and not much else other than load photos.

Please don't talk too much jargon.

HELP!!
 

Bobcat

Je Suis Charlie Hebdo
GOLD Site Supporter
If that's all you need to do, then buy the cheapest machine you can find. Just make sure it has a USB port (most cameras offload this way) and wireless. You can get free wireless internet access in most coffee shops and almost all hotels/motels.

Instead of Walmart, since you're flying in to the PRC (Peoples Republic of California), try Frys. Larger selection of, of, of everything! :thumb: Speaking of that, is Dick Smith Electronics still in business over there?

I'm going to get one of these for travel. Others who've gotten them say it was delivered in two days. The only complaint has been the size of the 8" display, but I thought it was quite readable.

http://www.forumsforums.com/3_9/showthread.php?t=13378
 
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California

Charter Member
Site Supporter
Bob, the diskless laptops you described recently
http://www.forumsforums.com/3_9/showthread.php?t=13378
seem ideal for travel since there is no hard drive, and a small screen. The HD and screen are the vulnerable parts of a travel pc. How do you think those compare to a cheap conventional laptop?

Vin, one step up from cheap, maybe $650, will get a laptop with a slot to slide your camera's memory card into directly. (Many cameras come with a USB cable to connect to a pc, but then have far slower transfer rates compared to reading the card via a card reader).

For travel, that built in reader slot is more convenient than carrying a cable, or a card reader that plugs into the USB port. Here's the miniature reader I carry: http://www.ledshoppe.com/Product/com/CA2002.htm

Edit: I'll second the Fry's recommendation. Vin, their website is simply www.frys.com. It's a small independent chain with huge stores in principal cities of the West plus in a few other major cities. Best prices anywhere if you know what you want before you go in the door. Once inside expect a huge broad range of choices staffed by total chaos and stupidity. That's simply their business model. Shop with a written list or the place will make you crazy.
 
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Bobcat

Je Suis Charlie Hebdo
GOLD Site Supporter
For travel, I think they compare very favorably. For surfing, checking maps, making online hotel reservations, keeping in touch...they're all you need. Storage is somewhat lacking, especially for pictures. If you were going to send the pictures straight to the net, no problem. Otherwise, might need to add a cheap thumb drive or external USB drive. As far as card slots, that usually limits your selection in cameras or laptops. The camera and laptop have to use the same card and there are not a lot of laptops out there with multi-slots. Get the USB cable and keep it in your camera pouch.

For office work, I'd go for something else that would be easier to use (ergonomically) and more powerfull. Generally, when you go small on size, you go big on price. I purchased 3 cheap Dell refurbs on eBay last year for between $400 and $600. They were closer to full size, so I wouldn't travel with them. They were purchased as gifts. A full-featured compact laptop is going to be over a grand. I had a Sony Vaio and a Fujitsu Lifebook for travel, $1200 and $1000 respectively. Both stolen. :pirate: Small and cheap is the way to go for travel. Worry about power and features when you get back home.
 

California

Charter Member
Site Supporter
Fry's: The mother ship:
http://frys.robotsix.com/view.php?id1=ca&id2=fremont

Detail in the San Diego store - maybe 1/10 of the total floor space. The pallets on the right are probably today's special, maybe $100 hard drives:
http://frys.robotsix.com/view.php?id1=ca&id2=sandiego&img=20071206_013.jpg

Here's the frys.com laptop page sorted lowest price first. I don't see any bargains at the moment.

I've bought three laptops from Fry's in the last couple of years. Prices $259 (closeout), $399 (after-Chistmas sale), and $550 for the first one a couple of years ago. All had sticker (non-sale) prices around $650. Only the $259 one had a SD (camera memory) slot. Expect to also buy a second gb of memory, $50, for any laptop sold currently.

The $399 laptop was this model: HP530 Notebook at TigerDirect
I think that one is fine as a basic laptop but I don't know about ruggedness for travel. Its their cheapest model (family). It runs great, but physically feels flimsy.
 

Bobcat

Je Suis Charlie Hebdo
GOLD Site Supporter
The only thing Frys doesn't have is a motel so you can spend the weekend and see everything! They even have a restaurant and convenience store inside. Some have a theme. The San Diego one is a waterworld theme, one of the two in Phoenix is a Mayan temple/jungle kinda thing.
 

daedong

New member
It sounds like the best thing to do is buy something small and cheap when I arrive in the USA. Thanks for your help guys.

Bob,
Dick Smith's still operates here, but it is not owned by Dick Smith anymore. I think it is owned by Woolworth's Australia.
 

Bobcat

Je Suis Charlie Hebdo
GOLD Site Supporter
That's a shame. They were one of the great hobby electronics sources. It appears they too have gone the way of Radio Shack. Anytime I went 'down under', I'd pick up one of their cool cartoonish catalogs. I bought lots of stuff from it back in the early eighties. Seems to me they had component data sheets in them. I can't remember whether they were random data sheets or for an item in the issue. The US catalog also had little sections with Aussie slang and trivia mixed in here and there.

Dse-us-cat-cover.jpg
 
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daedong

New member
I'm looking for a wireless internet provider. All my searches come up with lots of information about hotspots and WiFi. My preference would be to have internet connections not only in hotspots. I would like something that works off the cell phone system. However, so far everything I find, are plans with a minimum of two year contract. Is there any companies in the US that will do a prepaid wireless internet connection?
 

thcri

Gone But Not Forgotten
Vin,

When I changed from Alltell to Verizon, Verizon had a month to month plan. The two year contract that I signed got me the card fairly cheap. If you go on the month to month you pay full for the air card.

I don't see the month to month on the internet so you may have to ask when you get to USA

murph
 

Bobcat

Je Suis Charlie Hebdo
GOLD Site Supporter
For a cheap route, you can always connect your laptop to your cellphone. Not exactly broadband, but it works for email and light browsing. I'll see what I can dig up on WWAN solutions.

Most large truckstops, like TA and Petro (dunno about Pilot), broadcast wi-fi and you can do daily, monthly, or yearly plans. Easier than finding traditional hotspots when you're traveling because there's one just off the highway every 50miles or so, and you'd probably be pulling in there for gas anyway. Seems to me, the TA yearly plan came to about $10/month. Wll do a quick check...

http://www.tatravelcenters.com/taweb/Content/SiteTxt.aspx?page_id=715

TA SpeedZone is TA`s network of WiFi Hotspot locations offering high-speed wireless internet access. This service is now available at most TA locations. Click here for a detailed list.
NEW! Redeem your TA RoadMilesTM to access the internet!
Once you connect to the TA SpeedZone (Wireless Network ID: TA), our login page will appear. To redeem your TA RoadMiles, select the RoadKing ClubTM option and follow the instructions.

PLAN PRICE
60 Minutes $1.99
24 Hours $4.79
1 Month $19.99
1 Year $149.99

Subscription times are continuous from time of first log-in. For example, if you purchased a 24 Hour plan and logged-in at 7:00 p.m., your access will end at 7:00 p.m. the next day. Visit a TA site where TA SpeedZone is currently available for more information.

TA SpeedZone Customer Service
Call toll-free 1-877-838-1926


You can sign up right in their parking lot over the wi-fi.
 
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thcri

Gone But Not Forgotten
For a cheap route, you can always connect your laptop to your cellphone. Not exactly broadband,


You can get just about Broadband speed on some of them. I had a connection once with my cell phone and I got 512k speed. But you also have to watch them as some have a unlimited access or they charge by the amount you download.


murph
 

Bobcat

Je Suis Charlie Hebdo
GOLD Site Supporter
Yup, the CDMAs are usually pretty fast, but those are stuck in NA and Japan. More than likely he's coming here with a GSM which will top out at 150K absolute max.
 

thcri

Gone But Not Forgotten
Depending on the area, I can run at 1meg with my USB Card. But only in the large cities that have the matching technology


murph
 

Bobcat

Je Suis Charlie Hebdo
GOLD Site Supporter
Yup, the highspeed CDMA depends on what they've got in the tower. But it's not just the size of the city. Some big cities won't have more than 150K and some small cities, like Ely, NV of all places, might have 4M down and 2M up!
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
I'm looking for a wireless internet provider. All my searches come up with lots of information about hotspots and WiFi. My preference would be to have internet connections not only in hotspots. I would like something that works off the cell phone system. However, so far everything I find, are plans with a minimum of two year contract. Is there any companies in the US that will do a prepaid wireless internet connection?

Vin,
I use an Air Card. Much better than hooking your cell phone to the laptop cause you don't have all the wires to mess with. AT&'T has them in USB (others might also, I only know about AT&T).
I'm in the country and still get fair bandwidth. In town the connection is better. No Wifi or any stuff like that to worry about.
 

Bobcat

Je Suis Charlie Hebdo
GOLD Site Supporter

OhioTC18

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Maybe he could pick up an air card here in the states and someone "loan" him a login for a few months?
 

thcri

Gone But Not Forgotten
His problem is trying to find a provider that does't want a yearly contract.


Verizon will give you a month to month or at least I could get one in my area but he had to pay for the card full price. When he is here in the states his cell phone may not even work and he may have to get a cell phone here in the states.

murph
 

Bobcat

Je Suis Charlie Hebdo
GOLD Site Supporter
It's usually the other way around. CDMA is incompatible with any service in Europe or the rest of the world. GSM works everywhere. When traveling from the US to Europe with your GSM phone, it's just a matter of asking your provider to enable international service (suppose to cut down on overseas service theft or something). Daedongs situation may be the same; he just need to tell his provider to enable up-over service.

The only Verizon data plan I can find involves an annual commitment. Maybe he had data added to his exiting voice plan at a monthly rate?
 

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daedong

New member
I think the terminology is different and that's what is misleading. Here in OZ we have a system that sounds similar to what Doc has described where you plug a USB card into the side of your laptop and connect to wireless internet which operates through the same system as mobile phones (cell phones). This is the system I am after, but all my searches come up with 2 year contracts. I don't want just a hotspot system connection, what I want is a more substantial broader system to use while traveling in the car.


BTW totally separate, it is not my intention to bring a phone from Australia, I will buy a cheap prepaid phone when I get there.
 

thcri

Gone But Not Forgotten
The only Verizon data plan I can find involves an annual commitment. Maybe he had data added to his exiting voice plan at a monthly rate?


Bob, if you read one of my earlier posts Verizon was willing to give me a month to month plan but I could not find that they offer it on their web page. Vin may have to ask the rep when he gets here. If you take the month to month the rep told me I would have to pay big time for the air card. I wasn't worried about it as I wanted something long term anyway.


murph
 

Bobcat

Je Suis Charlie Hebdo
GOLD Site Supporter
We're on the same page with the cell stuff. You can connect to the internet through a cellular data card or dongle that plugs into your serial port, USB port, PCMCIA port, etc...

Any confusion is usually generated here...

There are two common types of 'wireless internet'. One is a short range system that we can call Wi-Fi or WLAN. That 'wireless' has nothing to do with the cell system and is the one associated with 'hot spots'. The other is the one that comes from the cell towers and may be more correctly called WWAN instead of 'wireless' to avoid confusion.
 
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daedong

New member
The other is the one that comes from the cell towers and may be more correctly called WWAN instead of 'wireless' to avoid confusion.

This is what I want, but I can't find a prepaid plan.

I can get international roaming through my provider (Telstra Bigpond) but they charge ridiculously. I rang their service desk and they advised me to find a provider in the US.

BTW Australia no longer has CDMA we now use 3G
 

Bobcat

Je Suis Charlie Hebdo
GOLD Site Supporter
Kind of a complicated mix there. From what I've read, 3G was designed to bring GSM up to modern standards using an underlyinng CDMA technology. :yum: I think the end goal is for everyone to eventually be using the same basic system meeting some ITU standard.
 

Bobcat

Je Suis Charlie Hebdo
GOLD Site Supporter
Anyway, enough of that. I think thcri (murph) is right, it'll take a store visit to get a monthly plan, if they exist. I might take a look this weekend. Last resort, I may make you some kind of 'FF deal'. :rolleyes:


For anyone that's interested...

UMTS

This article discusses the technology, business, usage and other aspects encompassing and surrounding UMTS, the 3G successor to GSM which utilizes the W-CDMA air interface and GSM infrastructures.
 

Kwiens

New member
Alltel has a month to month data plan ($25.00) that uses the USB cable to your cell phone. I don't know if you can use a prepaid Alltel cell phone for data. You need to have a cell phone that has software for data transfers.

www.alltel.com


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